Valve-operating mechanism



Nov. 6, 1923. l 1,473,481

A. F. KLEIS'T VALVE OPERAT ING MECHANI SM Filea Aug. 2o. 1921 Ufff/H6233 Patented Nov. 6, 1923.

ARTHUR r. KLEIST, or PONTIAC, MICHIGAN, Assienoaro cnnfraar. sranrrine conf.

Perea PANY, -OF DETROIT, MICHIGAN. A CORPORTION OF MCHIG-AN.

vALvE-ornnnrine Mnonanrsra.

Application rled August 20, 1921. Serial No. 493,949. Y

To all 107mm t may concern v Be it known that I, 'ARTHUR F. KLnIsr, a citizen of the United States of America, residing at Pontiac, in the county of Oakland and State of Michigan, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Valve-Operating .Mechanisn'n of which the following is a specification, reference being had therein to the accompanying drawings.

This invention relates to ,a valve operating mechanism and has for its object toprovide a device by means of which the position ot the valve may readily be determined from a point 2at which the valve is invisible.

n the drawing,

Figure 1 is a plan view of the valve with the opera-ting` mechanism attached;

Fig. 2 is a front elevation of the valve;

Fig. 3 is' a perspective view of the oper-Y ating disk for the valve with a portion of the lever, and

Fig. 4 is a diagrammatic view illustrating the relation of the valve to other elementsV in one of its applications. Y

In general the principle of operation of my device is the utilization of a form of ratchet disk in which successive movements of an operating pawl levez` will cause a rotation ofV the ratchet through different angular distances whereby ia flexible element connected to the end of the operating lever can be move-d a greater or less distance according tov the positionV of the ratchet disk: The operator vwill thus be able to determine the position of the 'disk-by the point to which the end or other indicating portion of the flexible operating element will reach and since the disk is se cured to the valvev the operator-can readily determine whether the valve is open or closed. Y x

The valve casing 1 is shown as provided with the usual tapered rotating valve 2 which is held in position in the casing by the usual nut 3. Upon the stem of the valve 2 is keyed or otherwise secured against rotation a disk 4. This disk is conveniently made of sheet metal having ratchet lugs 5, 6, 7 and 8 struck up at a slight angle at its periphery. The distance between the lugs 5 and 6 will be the same as the dis tance between the lugs 7 and 8 and the distance from thelug 6 to the lug 7 will be the same as the distance from the lug 5 to the lug y8,'A but if the angularY distanceV from the lug 5 to thelug 6 be sevent .-'ive' v i intarsidegrees, the distan'ce'from the lug V6 to ,theY l lug 7 Y will be Vone hundred and, five degrees,

or in other words the lug 5 is diametrically opposite the lug 7 and thelug 6 'diametricah ly opposite the lug 8.

Formed upon the valve casing 1 at one side" of the valve '2 is a projecting ear 9 to which is pivoted a lever 10 uponan'akissubstantially at right' angles to that -otfthevalve 2. One end of the lever 10 is hooked as shown at 11y and the other end is formed with a cam edge 12. A spring 13' surround- Y ving the pivot ott the lever 10 normally holds.v the lever substantially parallel with Vlthe disk 4. An arm'14 on the lever 10 serves as a stop by its engagement with thejbody l ot the valve casingV to vlimit the amount of swing impartedV tothe lever 10 by the spring Five-tally mountedk upon the stem ofthe valve 2 is an operating'lever 15 which has f connected thereto one end of a coiled spring 16 which is preferably formed with two or more coils about the stem and'jhasf the end remote from the point 'of attachment to the lever 15' secured to the valvecasing as at 17.V The spring l'because of .its coiled lform acts ltohold'theflever 15Qin contact'V with the disk L while permitting'it'to move slight-ly longitudinally of the steinV so that the lever may rideV over the bent out lugs as'it is moved angularly about thestem by A the action of thespring 16.

At the point at whichthe lever 15 engagesl the lugs in its motion angularly about the stem beveled surface 18 is provided sothat when the lever'is operatedby pulling upon the flexible member 19 the beveled edge at 1S will engage beneath one of the lugs and aV further pull upon the iexible element will cause the interlocked lever` and disk to move angularly 4"about the axis of thevalve 2 causing the-valve' to rotate. As thelev'er 15 is moved by a pullupon Vthe lexibleelement 19 it will come into contact with the curved cam portion 12 of the,

lever 10, and further movement of the lever 15 will cause the lever 10 t'obe swung angularly on its pivot so that the hooked end 11 will bear against the surface of ythe disk- 4 opposite thelever 15. As the disk 4:' is rotated the hooked end 1l will slide downthe sloping surface of the paWl adjacent to the one engaged by the lever and will come into contact with 'the radial edge of the disk l left by the stamping up of the pawl. The engagement of the hook 11 with the stop on the edge of the disk will prevent further angular movement of the lever 15 and consequently further longitudinal movement of the iiexble member 19.' At the point from which the valve is to be operated a plate 20 may be secured to the Wall7 the plate conveniently having a lug 26 through which the flexible element 19 may pass and upon the plate 2O indicating marks 21 and 22 may be made to indicate the heights to Which a selected portion of the. flexible element 19 reaches. After the member 19 has been pulled as far as it will go and released a spring 16 Will svving vthe member 15 angularly in the reverse direction until it has passed the next pawl and if the element 19 r is again pulled the beveled portion 15 will engage beneath the next succeeding pawl and cause another partial revolution of the valve 2 until the hook 11 encounters the next stop along the edge of the disk 4. But the angular distance in this second case will be different from that of the former actuation of the disk because of the dierence in the location of the pawls around the periphery of the disk and the difference in the angular movement of the lever 15 Will be accompanied by a difference in the longitudinal movement of thevelement 19 so that the indicating point on the fiexible element Will not reach the same mark as that reached in the previous operation but Will reach another mark. The operator Will thus be able to determine in which of two possible positions the valve is set so that one of the marks Will indicate that the valve is open and the other Will indicate that it is closed.

In Fig. i the device has been shown as applied to the gas burning furnace 23 the valve being located in the supply pipe 24.

A pipe 25 may lead to theusual pilot light not illustrated. It is obvious that the same device may be applied to the gas valve of a Water heater or to the valve of a gas meter. Similar valves may be used -to control a steam or hot Water system, a Water supply system, or any other valve controlled conduit.

It is obvious that many changes may be made in the form and proportion of parts Without departing from the principle of my invention and I do not therefore Wish to be limited to the device as illustrated but Wish to claim my invention broadly Within a legitimate scope of the appended claims.

What I claim is y 1. A valve operating mechanism comprising a disk having a plurality of lugs formed upon its periphery at unequal angular distances7 an operating lever movable upon the axis ofthe disk. a spring acting to cause angular movement ofthe lever in one direction and to hold it in contact with the disk, and a stop mechanism adapted to engage the disk to limit the extent of its angular movement. f

2. A structure as in claim 1, in Which the stop mechanism is actuated by vcontact with the operating lever. Y

3. A valve operating mechanism comprising` a disk having four lugs struck up about its periphery at unequal distances7 the alternating lugs being diametrically opposite each other, an operating lever movable upon the same axis with the disk, a spring acting to cause angular movement of the lever 1n one direction and to hold it in contact with the disk. the said lever being formed to en#V gage the lugs to cause rotation of the disk when moved in the directionopposite to that in Which it is movedby the spring, and a stop mechanism having a portion thereof interposed in the path of movement of the operating lever to be moved thereby to bring another portion of the stop mechanism into a position in which itwill limit'the extent of movement of the disk.

1e. A valve operating mechanism comprising aV movable operating means having a limited movement at each operation, the limit of movement at Vone operation being different from the limit of movement at the next succeeding operation, arflexible element connected With the operating means and an indicator in connection `with the flexible element to show the extent of movement of theV i In testimony whereof I afiix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

ARTHUR F. KLEIST. Y Witnesses:

N. WV. PETERSON, FANNrn IRISH. 

